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News :: Miscellaneous |
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Birthing Choices Threatened in Illinois |
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by Paul Kaiser
Email: buddy1 (nospam) advancenet.net (unverified!) |
19 Mar 2001
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Giving birth at home is an increasingly popular way to begin a child’s life. Women often seek the assistance of a midwife to provide prenatal care, nutritional counseling, and experienced support during pregnancy, labor and delivery. In Illinois, it has become very difficult to find a midwife to support home birth, due to their continuing legal troubles with state agencies. |
Procreation -- bringing new life into our world. A woman’s body is designed for the beautiful process of developing and delivering healthy new children into life. Despite various discomforts and lifestyle changes, most women describe the months of pregnancy as a wonderful period of enlightenment and self-discovery. Many women see the final delivery of their child as an ultimate rite of passage, an intensely emotional time best shared with loved ones in their comfortable home environment, under the guiding hand of nature.
Giving birth at home is an increasingly popular way to begin a child’s life. Women often seek the assistance of a midwife to provide prenatal care, nutritional counseling, and experienced support during pregnancy, labor and delivery. In Illinois, it has become very difficult to find a midwife to support home birth, due to their continuing legal troubles with state agencies.
A midwife is a trained health practitioner who believes in the Midwifery Model of Care. This model is based on pregnancy and birth being normal life events, rather than medical conditions and emergencies. Midwives help mothers remain healthy throughout their pregnancy, providing educational guidance specific to the mother’s needs. A personal relationship is formed between midwife and mother. Generally, a midwife helps minimize the need for medical devices in delivery, helping instead to support birth the way it has happened over thousands of years: naturally and with minimal intervention.
This mother-centered model of care has proven to reduce the incidence of birth injury, trauma, and cesarean section, while increasing emotional satisfaction and bonding between mother and child. In countries with lower infant mortality rates than the U.S., midwife-assisted birth is the norm.
Midwives most often associated with home births are Certified Professional Midwives, or CPM’s. CPM’s must meet the standards for certification set by The North American Registry of Midwives (NARM). The NARM certification process verifies the knowledge and skills of a midwife. Applicants must successfully complete a written examination and a formal skills assessment. To attain CPM credentials, a midwife must have training in and out of hospital settings. Finally, a midwife must pass a peer review process before being certified.
Despite midwifery’s healthy history and rigorous certification requirements, midwives attending home births in Illinois have been driven underground by the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation. This makes it increasingly difficult for families to choose an assisted home birth, as experienced midwives keep a low-profile out of necessity. Even after a midwife has been found and has accepted the family as suitable for home birth, a shroud of secrecy remains for fear of attracting attention to any non-nurse midwife.
Only one certification level -- the Certified Nurse Midwife, or CNM -- is not under scrutiny. However, the vast majority of CNM’s operate only in a hospital environment, under the supervision of a Medical Doctor. They are not required to train in non-hospital settings, and often would not accept the lower pay associated with a home birth. For a mother desiring the least medical intervention, the most comfortable environment, and the closest relationship with her birth assistant, CNM’s often fall short of the mark.
The IDPR claims that non-CNM midwives are in violation of the Medical Practice Act, the Nurse Practice Act, or the Advance Practice Nursing Act. So far, none of their actions against non-nurse midwives have been resolved in the courts. Some midwives have filed counteractions against IDPR for their harassment.
With few complications and increasing consumer demand for midwife-attended home births, many wonder why state agencies pursue non-nurse midwives with such vigilance. It has been suggested that hospitals feel home births threaten their bottom line. Indeed, mothers in labor provide a steady stream of patients to hospital care. Doctors can expect to perform a reasonably standard series of treatments on the mothers and babies, while insurance companies question very few of the charges they submit. In essence, childbirth is hospital gravy, and Illinois state agencies are entertaining corporate medicine’s wishes.
Home birth is in no way illegal in Illinois. Reported non-CNM attended home births are on the rise. (Though many are not reported out of legal fears for the midwife attendant.) In recent years, both Illinois Governers Thompson and Ryan have recognized the existence and value of non-nurse midwives and have confirmed that they meet a recognized public health need. Both governors signed proclamations in support of midwives who are not CNM’s. In 1999 and 2000 Governor Ryan proclaimed the first week in May as Certified Professional Midwife Awareness Week in Illinois.
Despite this top-level support and consumer demand, the IDPR continues to hunt down non-CNM midwives, issuing cease and desist orders or prosecuting on various grounds. They have yet to win a case, but the fear they inspire affects the availability of home birth midwifery care in Illinois.
Twenty five states have licensure programs for non-nurse midwives. 7 others have specifically made it legal by statute for non-nurse midwives to practice, though they do not offer license. The demand for home birth assistance is on the rise -- in Illinois as well as other states. Clearly, CPM’s in Illinois need to be formally recognized in order to meet the demands of state citizens.
Illinois State Rep Mary Flowers has sponsored House Bill 577 -- The Certified Professional Midwife Licensure Act. The first three paragraphs of Section 5 of the Bill summarize it’s intent quite clearly:
“(1) There is broad and substantial support among the citizens of the State of Illinois for allowing access to Certified Professional Midwifery services for those parents who choose the option of out-of-hospital birth.
(2) Certified Professional Midwifery services should be available to everyone.
(3) The intent of this Act is to encourage and enable the practice of Certified Professional Midwives for the benefit of mothers, babies, and families in the State of Illinois.”
The bill was heard by the Registration and Regulation Committee on Feb. 28, 2001. After testimony given by citizens speaking for midwifery, the Illinois State Medical Society, Illinois Department of Public Health, and Illinois Department of Professional Regulations had their say. It was decided to table the bill to see if amendments could be made to satisfy legislators and still suit the bill’s proponents. The bill has since not been revisited.
To track the progress of the bill go to:
http://www.legis.state.il.us/scripts/imstran.exe?LIBSINCWHB577
As a citizen of Illinois, it is your right and duty to contact the people who represent your interests. By stressing the importance of HB 577 to your representatives, you increase the chance that the bill will become law in the near future. If you do not know who your state representative and state senator are, you may call these numbers to request this information:
House# 217-782-8223
Senate# 217-782-4517
The right to choose our own path is an important one. Please inform your representatives today that you want to protect birthing choices for Illinois women by supporting HB 577.
For more information about Certified Professional Midwives go to:
www.mana.org/narm
For information about Illinois Families For Midwifery go to:
http://iffm.lovesbaby.com/
For information on the history of Illinois midwifery and recent IDPR
actions against Illinois midwives, go to :
http://www.outlawmidwife.com |